The Runaway Princess

by Patricia Forsythe

  Skold gulped, his face whitening, but he managed to squawk, “I want my camera.”

  “Oh sure,” Jace answered, opening the back, pulling out the film, and handing it over. “Now get out.”

  As Luke pulled Skold away, he shouted back over his shoulder. “You think I’m the only one who knows you’re a certified teacher? You think someone else won’t think to check with the state to find out where you’re teaching? Cute story, ‘Princess Finds Out What The Simple Folk…’ Ah!” He yelped in pain as Luke demonstrated his rodeo-winning technique of throwing calves down to tie their feet together. A second later, he jerked the photographer out of the dust and hauled him away.

  When they were gone, Jace turned to look around the circle of his friends and neighbors. All eyes were on Alexis, who was looking at him with distress in her eyes. He stepped to her side and put his arm around her shoulders, drawing her close to him. She trembled and then went still.

  “Jace?” Carol Saunders said. “Did you know about this?”

  “Yes,” he admitted, glancing down at the top of Alexis’s head where it rested trustingly against his shoulder. His arm tightened around her, and hers stole up to clasp his waist. “But I didn’t think she’d be pursued up here.”

  “I’m sorry,” Alexis said, her voice low and shaky as she looked from one person to another. “I did everything I could to throw them off. I’ve always wanted to teach, but when you’re in the public eye, it’s hard. When I was doing my student teaching in Phoenix, the paparazzi hung around the school yard all the time, frightening the children….”

  “And you thought our children wouldn’t be frightened?” one mother asked, annoyed.

  Alexis held out her hands beseechingly. “No, of course not, that’s why I tried to hide my true identity. I registered at a health spa and sent my lady-in-waiting there in my place to throw them off, but…” Her voice faltered. “I’m sorry to say it didn’t work. Dag Skold found me anyway. I’m so sorry.”

  A long silence followed as parents tried to decide what to say. A low muttering started and Jace tightened his arm around her. He knew he could intervene, tell everyone they had nothing to worry about, even though he wasn’t quite sure that was true.

  As head of the school board, he could talk to the other two members and convince them that since they had signed a contract with her, they couldn’t ask her to leave. It could be a legal nightmare.

  Jace looked around at the faces of his friends, then at Alexis, whose eyes were full of worry. The thought of her leaving had panic pummeling him in the gut.

  God forbid that it should come to that.

  What were they going to say? Alexis wouldn’t blame the people of Sleepy River if they asked her to go. She hadn’t been completely honest with anyone except Jace and even though she’d had the best intentions, it might not look that way to them.

  “Miss Chastain?” Becky Kramer was tugging at her sleeve.

  Absently, Alexis looked down to see a puzzled expression on the little girl’s face.

  “Are you really a princess?” she breathed. Her eyes were huge.

  “Yes, I am.” Alexis reached out to touch Becky’s soft, red curls.

  “Have you got a crown?”

  “Oh yes.”

  Becky’s eyes almost swallowed her face. “What’s it look like?”

  “It’s gold and platinum with diamonds and rubies on it.”

  All the other little girls had joined Becky and were listening, goggle-eyed to this description. “Diamonds and rubies,” they breathed, each of them, no doubt, imagining it on her own head.

  “Can we see it?” one of the girls asked.

  “Can we try it on?” another wanted to know.

  Alexis laughed. “I’m sorry. It’s not here. It’s at my father’s palace, locked away in a very strong vault in the dungeon.”

  “Palace,” they gulped, looking at each other. “Dungeon.”

  They were staring at her with such awe, she knew they were no longer seeing her as the person who had taught them for two weeks, but as an exotic stranger who had landed in their midst. This dismayed her, but if the parents asked her to leave, anyway, out of fear for their children’s privacy, it wouldn’t matter how glamorous and exotic she appeared.

  The one thing that she clung to, both physically and emotionally, was Jace’s support. His arm held her tightly, and she was grateful to lean on his strength.

  “So this kind of thing happens a lot?” Carol Saunders asked, breaking into Alexis’s thoughts.

  “Enough,” she admitted. “Enough to make my family very cautious about what we do and where we go…and whom we involve in our lives.”

  “How do you avoid them?” another parent asked.

  “Trickery,” she said with a shrug. “Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t.”

  “This time it didn’t,” Jace said.

  “But this is a close-knit community,” Hattie said, stepping forward. For tonight’s party, she had added a flowered blouse to her usual outfit of a man’s overalls and hat. She looked both festive and ready for anything. She gave Alexis a fierce look. “If any strangers come around, we’d know.”

  Alexis blinked. “What?”

  “Yeah, we’d find ’em,” Billy added. “Even Champ knew that guy wasn’t supposed to be there.” He bent down and gave his dog an affectionate scratch behind the ears. “I bet Champ could have run him off all by himself if Jace hadn’t grabbed him instead.”

  “Yes, he’s definitely a one-dog bodyguard squad,” Jace said dryly.

  “You’re not thinking of leaving, are you?” Hattie asked. She turned to the people standing behind her. “You’re not thinking of asking her to leave, are you? We still need a teacher around here and Martha can’t take over again yet.”

  There was a general murmur among the adults, but the kids turned to them, begging to have Miss Chastain stay. Alexis thought it was funny that whereas the little girls had liked her before, as little girls usually like their teachers, now they adored her.

  She took her arm from around Jace’s waist and stepped away from the comfort of his arm. Lifting her hands, she called for quiet. “I don’t want to put anyone at risk,” she began.

  “But they’re not after any of us,” someone said. “They’re after you.”

  “It will still be a distraction to me and to the children if other reporters besides Dag Skold find me. Even though Luke has escorted him out of the mountains, he’ll probably be back. He’s not easy to stop, believe me.”

  “Why don’t we members of the school board decide what to do?” Stella finally said, then her smile flickered. “Though I hardly think Jace is likely to be impartial.”

  Alexis felt a blush staining her cheeks, but fortunately, it was too dark to be seen. Jace drawled, “Nope, I probably won’t be, but let’s go inside and talk about it.”

  The three members started inside the building and Jace gave a gentle squeeze to Alexis’s shoulder as he passed. When they were gone, the others returned to what they had been doing. The kids were persuaded by their parents to leave her alone and take up a game of flashlight tag.

  Gil and Rocky went back to their barbecue grill and Alexis turned to them in surprise, realizing that they’d been uncharacteristically silent throughout the discussion. She found them looking at her as if she was a space alien who had just landed her flying saucer on the pitcher’s mound.

  She walked over to them. “Are you two all right?”

  Gil’s Adam’s apple bounced ferociously a few times before he could form words. “We…we, uh, were surprised you decided you liked Jace better than one of us,” he said. “Him being so old and all.”

  Alexis blinked. “He’s thirty-one.”

  “Yeah, well, whatever. But why would a princess want him?”

  “Yeah,” Rocky broke in. “Do you princesses have some kind of cowboy fetish going on? ’Cause if you do, we were wondering if maybe your sisters would like us?”

  Alexis barely gul
ped down an unladylike snort of laughter. What on earth went on in the brains of these two boys? She had to swallow quickly and clear her throat before she could respond. “Um, that’s so…nice of you both, but actually my sisters both seem to be involved with other men just now, and besides, my oldest sister, Anya is almost Jace’s age, probably too old for you, and…”

  “Oh, that’s okay,” Gil said hastily. “We like older women. That’s why we liked you right away. Experience and all.”

  “Gil,” Jace’s voice growled from above Alexis’s head. “You left your single working brain cell at home. Maybe you’d better go get it.”

  Gil looked at his brother quizzically, then at Jace and Alexis. “Oh, uh, sorry. Said something I shouldn’t have, huh? Maybe I’d better stick to barbecuing?”

  “Good idea,” Jace responded, taking Alexis’s arm and drawing her away. Without preamble, he turned her to face him and said, “We want you to stay.”

  Joy shot through her. “Oh, that’s wonderful. Are you sure, though? I don’t want…”

  “It was unanimous. We’ll be damned if some sleazebag is going to interrupt our lives. Anybody comes around, we’ll get rid of them.”

  Alexis laughed with joy and started to throw her arms around him before recalling where she was and landing back on her heels. If there’d been fewer people around, she would have kissed him.

  He grinned and winked at her. “Later,” he said. With his arm around her, he drew her into the circle of people, his friends and neighbors who were willing to let her stay.

  Alexis’s happiness carried her through the next few days, but on Tuesday something happened that pulled the rug out from under her.

  The children were at recess and Alexis was on the playground with them, turning one end of a jump rope when two of the older girls, who had gone to the bathroom, darted back outside, shrieking, “Miss Chastain, there’s a man in the bathroom!”

  Alarmed, she sent two of the older boys inside to call Jace. Automatically, she ordered the other children to stay together while she hurried to find out who the intruder was. On the way, she snatched up a base-ball bat and entered the bathroom with a yell only to have flashbulbs explode in her face.

  “Stop it!” she yelled, nearly blinded. “You’re on private property. Get out right now!” All through this, the whir and click of the camera continued as a tall, overweight man with multiple cameras slung around his neck snapped one shot after another.

  “Get out,” she said again.

  “Who you gonna call?” he sneered. “No bodyguards here, Your Highness. Not even any cops.”

  She lifted the baseball bat only to have him grin and start clicking again, but when she banged it against a stall door, he seemed to realize she was serious.

  “Hey, wait a minute,” he said, stumbling backward as she banged the bat again. “You’re not gonna hit me with that.”

  She was so angry, she thought she probably could hit a home run with his head, but she heard the thundering of hooves outside and pushed the door open to see Jace galloping up. He was off of Hondo’s back in one leap and had the man by the scruff of the neck and the seat of the pants before the photographer knew what hit him.

  Jace marched him outside, right in front of the children who were huddled together where she had left them. Within a few moments, they heard the roar of a motor and saw a cloud of dust rising into the air as the man streaked from wherever he had hidden his car and headed out of Sleepy River.

  A few seconds later, Jace returned, swinging an exposed roll of film from his hand. His face was grim and set in stone.

  “I don’t think he’ll be back,” he said tightly, then he glanced at the ruined film. “I’m getting good at this.”

  Tears spurted into Alexis’s eyes. “But you shouldn’t have to be good at it. And if that guy doesn’t come back, someone else will,” she choked. “Jace, this isn’t going to work.”

  He stopped and his dark eyes swung to examine her distraught face. After one swift look, he turned to the children. “Everything’s all right, but recess is over. You older kids, take the little ones inside so I can talk to Miss Chastain alone.”

  The children were unnaturally subdued as they filed back inside.

  When they were alone, Jace gave her a severe look. “What are you talking about?”

  She thew her hands into the air. “That guy, whoever he was, frightened two of the girls. He was in their bathroom—no doubt because its window faces the playground. These people…they’re relentless, they never give up. They’re…they’re the terminators of the news industry. They don’t give up, I tell you.”

  His face set, he stepped forward and grabbed her arms, giving her a slight shake. “Alexis, stop it. You’re hysterical.”

  She stopped and her breath jerked in calming breaths. She lifted tear-filled eyes to him. “I thought it would work, Jace. I really did. But I’m putting everyone at risk….”

  “No.”

  “Yes. I had to call on you, interrupt your work to get rid of him.”

  “I don’t mind,” he said, but he was frowning at her fiercely.

  “But how many more times will it happen?” she asked. She’d gone cold inside because she knew what she had to do, but she could barely stand to do it. She had begun to shake deep inside. In a few minutes, it would spread to the outside and she would be trembling like the leaves on the aspens that surrounded the playground. “And how many more times will the children be terrified of a stranger popping out of the bushes or accosting them in their own rest room?” Tears began to fall. “No. I’ve got to go.” Her lips trembled as she went on. “I thought I could do this. I really did. I thought this was the place for me, but it isn’t.”

  She saw anger flare in his eyes, but it seemed to be tinged with panic. “So you’re going to just leave like this? What about your contract, your commitment?” He paused, his dark eyes searching her face. “What about us?”

  Her laugh was hysterical. “I can’t keep my commitment. I’m sorry. I’m putting the children at risk….” She broke off as an idea occurred to her. Hope sprang up as she looked at him. “You…you could come to Inbourg with me.”

  Stunned, he stared at her. “What?”

  She clutched at him. “Come with me. We could live at the palace. The reporters have never made it into the palace, and…”

  “I can’t, Alexis, at least not for a few weeks. I’ve got hay to finish getting in and the herd needs to be moved next week. I can’t go off on a vacation.”

  “I didn’t mean on a vacation. I meant permanently.” She waited breathlessly for his response and when she saw sadness and regret flicker in his eyes, her heart sank.

  “I can’t,” Jace repeated. He pulled her hands from his shirt and held them in his own. His rugged face was grim, set in lines that made him look years older.

  Alexis shook her head as tears welled up and fell from her eyes. He was so solid, so real. She had come to depend on him as well as love him. She had wondered if he loved her and now she knew. She had all but fallen down on one knee and offered him a ring.

  Her voice hitched as she answered. “No, of course you can’t. You wouldn’t want to live inside walls with bodyguards and alarm systems. It’s a beautiful, beautiful palace, but in many ways, it’s a prison. We can’t even open the windows without setting off alarms.”

  “No, of course not,” he said quickly, then checked himself. “I belong here.”

  “And I don’t,” she said quietly. “We both know that. We’ve been fooling ourselves.” She saw his arms reaching for her in jerky motions as if they weren’t sure what to do, but she turned away. “I’ve got to get back inside and talk to the children. Would you please call Martha and see if something can be worked out? Tell her…” Tears choked her. “Tell her how very sorry I am.”

  “Alexis, wait,” Jace said, his voice gruff, but she hurried past him and into the schoolhouse to tell the children she was leaving. As she paused on the porch and tried to compose what
she was going to say, she heard the thud of Hondo’s hooves on the hard-packed earth of the baseball diamond, carrying Jace away, out of her life.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Coming home was the most sensible thing you could have done,” Prince Michael said. Since Inbourg had no big international airport, Alexis and Esther had landed in Paris, then taken a smaller plane home. He had been there to meet them at the airstrip.

  The three of them were walking together across the tarmac. In spite of the rush in which she had left Sleepy River, and the stressful journey home, she was glad to be back in Inbourg. She loved it, its people, and especially the handsome prince who ruled it.

  She glanced up at her tall, regal father. He was slim and strong and now that the strain of rewriting the national constitution was over, years seemed to have dropped from him. Reaching up, she linked her arm with his and he patted her hand.

  “I’m glad to be home, Dad. I can’t wait to see everyone. What’s been happening?”

  He launched into a description of Deirdre’s return to Inbourg with her new boyfriend, of Jean Louis’s school days, but Alexis’s mind drifted away, back to the mountains where she had known such peace.

  Jace had come to say goodbye and help her load her car and lock the teacherage. It had been so painful for them both, he’d left after only a few minutes, driving away in his truck while she’d stood beside Rachel’s little car with its smashed bumper and watched him go.

  Alexis had driven the endless miles back to Phoenix, picked up a hugely grateful—and slimmed down—Esther at the spa, left Rachel’s car at a garage to be repaired, and flown home. Jace had been in her thoughts every minute of that time.

  She couldn’t forget the way she had begged him to come with her and the way he had turned her down. She didn’t know why she had asked, except that she loved him and wanted to be with him. Deep in her heart, she had known he wouldn’t leave, though. He was right. He belonged at the Running M, and she didn’t.

  “…look fine,” her father was saying. “I don’t know what you were thinking, going back to Arizona, of all places. I would have thought you’d had enough of that place during your college years. Well, anyway, you’re home now and that’s what’s important. Tomorrow night, there’s a reception for an international company that wants to relocate to Inbourg. They’ve heard about the tax breaks we’re offering as incentives. The man who runs the company is interested in meeting you.”